The Pasta House restaurant in Arnold, which was damaged by the March 14 storm, is under repair and could reopen by mid-September, franchise owner Alex Dziuba said.
He said a new roof was put on the approximately 6,800-square-foot restaurant building at 921 Arnold Commons Drive in mid-April.
“It is a long haul for us to reopen,” said Dziuba, 76, of Kirkwood. “We finally got a new membrane on top of the roof. We are good there. With the roof on, you can start seriously doing other things to further the reopening.”
The Pasta House was nearly destroyed in the March storm when an F-2 tornado ripped through Arnold.
“We are thankful that nobody was injured,” Dziuba said.
He said the restaurant had closed early March 14, and no customers were in the building when the tornado came through Arnold. However, a manager and four employees were still inside.
“The manager was getting ready to get the rest of the crew out, and that is when the storm came. They went into the walk-in cooler,” he said. “When the tornado came over the top of the building, they said it sounded like a freight train was coming through.”
Dziuba said the tornado blew the four air conditioning units and exhaust fans on the roof off their mountings. That left gaping holes in the roof that rain poured through filling the restaurant with water.
“After everything stopped and (the employees) opened the door (on the cooler), they said it was like Niagara Falls in there,” he said. “They couldn’t believe all of the water that was coming into the building. That is what destroyed everything. The water was everywhere.”
Dziuba said everything in the restaurant had to be removed.
“Right now, all you are going to see is 2-by-4 studs,” he said. “There is absolutely nothing left. The ceiling is all gone, you can see the bottom of the roof. You can see the outside walls. That is all that is left of the restaurant. Everything else has been thrown out. We are basically starting from scratch.”
Dziuba said the damage the restaurant sustained in a July 2016 storm was similar to what the restaurant suffered in March.
“In 2016, there was a section of roof that did not get pulled off,” he said. “That section of roof covered the kitchen area, so we didn’t lose all of the kitchen equipment like we have now.”
Dziuba said after the 2016 storm, the Pasta House was able to reopen on Dec. 7 of that year.
“That wasn’t as bad,” he said. “If we get open in five months (this year), we will be really lucky. I am hoping for five and a half months.”
Dziuba said the restaurant has 65 employees, and he is able to pay those employees, thanks to his business interruption insurance.
“Fortunately, I paid extra to get business interruption insurance,” he said. “What that does is it pays my employees for six months. It pays them everything they would have made if they were working.”
The restaurant first opened as a Bonanza in 1985 and later became a Ponderosa before it was purchased and converted into a Pasta House in 1998. Before that the Arnold Pasta House was located in the Arnold Park Mall at Hwy. 141 and Jeffco Boulevard.
Dziuba said he believes the Pasta House will recover from this latest storm, just like it did nine years ago.
“I am hopeful,” he said. “We have learned some things along the way, so I think that will help us down the line. The hardest part is you are at the mercy of what is out there in the industry.
“Right now, it is hard to find people to do repairs. There is so much damage in this area; it is taking time for the repairs.”